Moving Video On The Hopes of a 14 Year Old...

In 1992, Los Angeles was a city divided and in massive turmoil. Following the infamous riots and the brutal arrest of Rodney King, a young teacher named Erin Gruwell was assigned to a class of highly at-risk young people. At the age of 14, almost all of them had lost someone to gang-violence and had very little hope or reason to take an English class seriously, let alone their teacher.

In 2007, their story was transformed into a film, The Freedom Writers Diary. In this clip, we see the students raising a glass to making a change in their lives. What I was staggered by was the moment one of the students spoke about his ambition...

'I'd like to be 18.'

Something that most of us take for granted is even now, a faint hope for millions of people across the world. While we may have our own struggles, there are people elsewhere who are suffering and need more lighthouses like Erin Gruwell to help them break through and realise their potential...

I want to make the most of my life and help others make the most of theirs. For the last 8 years I have been developing myself intensively with support of an amazing mentorship community at Lighthouse International and our non-profit organisation, Lighthouse Kidz. I am learning and appreciating more and more the importance of meaningful, trust-filled, character rich relationships with people – not just connections. These kinds of relationships completely revolutionise organisations, industries and change families and individuals’ lives.